Election candidate Tim Gwilliam has pledged to give over a quarter of his salary away to local good causes if he is voted in as the Forest of Dean MP.

The former Labour stalwart, who resigned from the party because he did not agree with the politics of Jeremy Corbyn, is fighting as an independent on a "Forest First" platform and has come up with an eight point plan for the Dean covering, issues such as health, education, housing and infrastructure, growth and heritage and environment.

But first Mr Gwilliam, one of five children brought up in a council house by a widowed father, pledged to give away some of his MPs £74,962 salary if he is elected to the Commons.

On his Facebook site Mr Gwilliam explained how he understands what it means to to live frugally because he was brought up in a poor household and when he had his own family the mortgage company doubled his payments virtually overnight even though they knew he was off work after suffering a heart attack and would not be able to afford them.

"We had to sell our home, and to look into my wife and children's eyes and feel that I have let them down is something I have no wish for anyone else to go through," he said.

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"What it does mean is that we live a very simple life. We are so fortunate to have our home and we have now recovered and thankfully we have done that together. That simple life leads me to my first pledge.

"I don't need around £80k a year. I promise if elected to commit at least £20,000 of the MPs salary to a grant fund, to be managed by my office, that community groups and individuals in the Forest of Dean could apply for."

Mr Gwilliam, who comes from a freemining family, put forward a raft of proposals which includes the promise to try and preserve the traditional rights of the Forest intact.

He said: "I will fight/lobby for new maternity facilities with the Forest of Dean to enable a new generation of Foresters be born if their mothers should choose that option."

It's election time again

Parish and district councillor Mr Gwilliam is the first person to officially announce his intention to stand against sitting MP Mark Harper for the seat at the general election on June 8.

The father of two says he wants to "give the Forest and its residents back their voice" and has launched a crowd funding appeal on the internet to raise £2,000 towards his election expenses and publicity costs.

Although he has come out fighting, he will face a bitter battle from the official Labour candidate for the Forest of Dean, who is expected to be announced any day, and probably even UKIP.